SEC decision may give the schedule a nice boost

UCF now becomes a solid option for UNC, Georgia Tech

UCF’s football scheduling challenges may ease a bit after the SEC announced it is moving forward with a conferenceonly schedule this fall.

The decision wipes away a handful of rivalry games between SEC and ACC teams, including Florida versus Florida State, Georgia versus Georgia Tech, Clemson versus South Carolina and Louisville versus Kentucky.

ACC previously announced it would play an 11-game schedule that featured 10 conference games and a nonconference matchup.

The Knights were set to play North Carolina at home to kick off the season and play at Georgia Tech on Sept. 18.

The Tar Heels were expected to choose the SEC’s Auburn and the Yellow Jackets were expected to pick Georgia as their sole nonconference opponents.

But the SEC decision opens the door for UCF as an attractive option for both North Carolina and Georgia Tech.

The American Athletic Conference isn’t expected to make a decision on the fall until next week, a source told the Orlando Sentinel.

AAC commissioner Mike Aresco told the Sentinel on July 16 the league prefers to play a full 12-game schedule, but it has also looked at several other models, including one option with eight conference games and two out-of-conference matchups.

“If we can’t play 12 and we can play 10, our preference would be a hybrid [schedule] with our normal eight conference games and two nonconference games,” Aresco said, citing the importance of several of its high-profile nonconference matchups, including TCU-SMU, Army-Navy and USF-Texas. “That would be the preference.

“We also have a 10-game all-conference schedule draft ready to go if we needed it. If we decide we can’t play nonconference games or we don’t have enough quality nonconference games, then we could pivot to the all-conference schedule, but we prefer not to.”

The ACC has mandated all of its nonconference games will be played at the home stadiums of their teams with opponents following the league’s safety protocols. The conference also said the earliest it would start competition was the week of Sept. 7-12.

No decision has been made by UCF or North Carolina and Georgia Tech.

“They are in flux, and with the ACC Network, we have a significant television obligation,” North Carolina athletics director Bubba Cunningham said of the Tar Heels out-ofconference opponents. “So, we are normally trying to play 12 games, now we are back to 11, and how do we provide that inventory for the network to televise? We are going to play ten conference games plus one, that’s why it has to be a home game, and we’ll have to figure out who that opponent is — that’s not determined yet.”

UCF’s season opener against North Carolina was set for Friday, Sept. 4. The Knights are scheduled to host FIU on Saturday, Sept. 12.